Acquisitions
Acquisitions Acquisitions is a division of The Spokesmen charged with acquiring new materials and media for the massive information stockpile known as The Library. The Board of Scholars chartered Acquisitions with ensuring that The Library does not serve as merely a dumping ground for the dead knowledge of the past, but rather remains as a vibrant and evolving record of the Arts, Literature, Sciences, and Societies of all races, and as such Acquisitions wields significant power within the structure of The Library. Motto The Motto of Acquisitions "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam" (either find a way or make one) represents the dedication that these tireless workers have towards expanding and preserving the massive collection they operate within. Since acquiring media can take many different forms the division itself is divided into several subdivisions each specializing in a different form of acquiring. Subdivisions There are literally hundreds of subdivisions of Acquisitions, each tasked with different functions, but some of the larger branches are explained below. Purchasing Purchasing might be the most straightforward subdivision in all of The Library's vast structure. They buy books. Some materials are purchased directly from publishers, some are purchased from clearinghouses, and other, rarer items, are purchased from private collections. Since The United League of Planets backs the purchase of all materials stored in The Library, Purchasing has virtually unlimited resources. For example, a recently acquired copy of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy from 14th century Earth was purchased for the price of newly discovered planet, and the equipment required to colonize it. If it is available for sale, Purchasing will acquire it for the archive. Research The Research subdivision of Acquisitions is not to be confused with the Reference and Research division of the library that assists scholars from the known universe with finding information in the archives. Research is tasked with determining what to acquire, and they scour the stacks tirelessly looking for references to materials not currently available in The Library, note them, and then task the other divisions with acquiring copies for the archives. They also serve as the research desk for Acquisitions, determining if a found item is already included in the stacks. Legend has it that any member of Research has to pass a test demonstrating their ability to list, in order, each of the thousands of categories used to file information, and define what belongs in each of them on demand. It is also said that within 10 minutes, at any Library terminal, a member of Research can provide a complete dossier on any citizen with a registered birth. Antiquities Antiquities is the division of Acquisitions that gets its hands dirty. They go after art and artifacts that have disappeared throughout the ages, as well as collecting archaeological artifacts of various cultures for the museum collection of the Library. These are the guys who crawl through the dusty attics, the ruined temples, and occasionally the ultra-secret vaults that the wealthy try to hide. Their motto dismisses the Latin of the Division as a whole, and replaces it with the much more direct "BAMN!" which means, simply, "By Any Means Necessary."